Sometimes we get pitched a story idea, maybe featuring a local business. And we want to feature them all. But here’s the reality for us, and any publication: pictured here is the ever-moving editorial calendar, filled with news trying to make its way out of our planners, and onto your screen of choice to read.

Sometimes our stories get published “on time.” Sometimes they get pushed around. Sometimes they come out a year later. (Just wait for our city snow plow article for the first snowfall of next year! Luckily we had no snow after we’d gotten answers from the city on the strategy behind how they plow.)

This behind-the-scenes photo was first published on our Instagram, and we just thought it might be interesting to see the inside of how article ideas and intentions shift around in here.

We have several articles mostly written already, that we haven’t published (doy!!!!!) because time flies by and we are a small team.

Not getting featured is never personal. To learn how to pitch any type of media (blog, magazine, TV), and how to bump your issue into this lineup of cards (articles), start getting Tin Shingle’s newsletter. It’s all about teaching small businesses how to get attention.

The key ingredient for pitching is timeliness, and following up politely. Tin Shingle and A Little Beacon Blog are run by me at Katie James, Inc., where I also produce websites for clients. Whew! That’s a lot.

OK, back to regular articles!